Forbidden Love
by Super Saiyan Juuhachi
Summary: What if Darlene and David never got back together after they broke up in Chicago? What if David was never allowed to come back and live with the Conners again? How would that have changed things? CHAPTER 5 IS UP NOW!
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Disclaimer: **Roseanne and all of it's characters are all property of Carsey-Werner. I own nothing. I am just borrowing for awhile but will return them in exactly the same condition when I'm finished. However, I do own several characters that will be appearing through out this story.

Forbidden Love

Written by: Super Saiyan Juuhachi

_New Year's Eve, 1993_

New York was alive with the sounds of cheers. Thousand stood lining the streets of Time Square, completely overwhelmed with excitement, and anticipation, the hour drawing near now. Others, who were unable to take part in the whole experience of being there, spent the importance of this occasion in the company of family and friends as they drank cheap champagne and talked about their plans for the future. It brought an enormous feeling of hope and promise into their hearts at the prospect of being given another opportunity to start their lives over again. Making everything they have worked for up to this point even more worth it, they felt as did those who had spent hours in the frigid cold. A feeling of adrenaline began to pulsate in their veins while time ticked closer and they tried to come up with strict and realistic goals to accomplish in the approaching year. However, every holiday and special event has its ugly sides too and among those who celebrated this occasion and looked forward to it, were also those who did not. People who did not have any friends or family to share in the importance of this night with and were forced to spend it alone. Whether it was due to tragedy, or simply they just lived far away, it was clear they did not want to participate or be involved in the social act this evening held and sought to spend their time elsewhere in hopes of getting away from it all.

"We are only a few moments away now from witnessing the breath taking display of the ball dropping here at Time Square as we say farewell to 1993 and prepare to welcome 1994." A reporter on the T.V spoke. His words escaping everyone sitting in the grim environment of a corner bar as sounds of overlapping conversations filled the room and the smell of booze and cigarettes hung heavily in the air. Meanwhile, a young girl, looking to be around her mid to late teens sat in the far corner of the room, completely separated from the other occupants. She ran a hand through her long dark curls, pushing them out of her face only to reveal her forlorn green eyes that seemed to glimmer underneath the dim light as she then took a drink from the glass of alcohol she had in her hand. Feeling the bitter liquid burn the back of her throat as she swallowed in the hopes that it would help ease her troubled mind and take away the problems she was currently going through. Although her efforts were all in vain, as no amount of liquor could erase what she had done and the unforgettable memories that continued to haunt her. Not allowing her to forget the foolish decisions she had made and the consequences that followed as a result.

A week had nearly passed since she had last seen or heard from her now former boyfriend. The two had been living together, prior to all of this, for the past three months. _What a mistake that was _She thought to herself. Back then, though, it seemed like the most logical solution to resolve the problems they were having in their relationship. Problems, which had honestly started even before she left for college. Both had applied for art schools in New York and Chicago a few months ago, only to receive letters in response sometime later. Though rejected by New York, she had gotten a letter from Chicago explaining that she was accepted. Unfortunately, for the two of them, he did not get into either one and pretended she was not either to avoid an awkward situation. However, he soon found out the truth about her deception shortly after and was both hurt and angry by her lying to him. Telling her that if, she left than he would break up with her and start seeing other people. Needless to say, she stayed, though it was more so for the reason of her own insecurities, really than it was about him. It was not until her mother, who had previous objections to the idea, convinced her to do it and not waste what might be a once in a lifetime opportunity, did she finally go.

Time passed and she had become quite happy were she was. Her boyfriend, on the other hand, was upset by this, because while he knew this was what she wanted, he couldn't help but hope she would be miserable and decide to come back home to him. However, seeing she was not had created a lot of unwanted tension and made things very strained and uncomfortable between them. So they decided to move in together, and though it seemed like a great idea at first, it did not take long before things started to turn sour again and would often engage in intense arguments, sometimes over the most trivial of matters.

All of those paled in comparison to the fateful night when he told her that she was the meanest person alive. Even though she knew there was some part of her that deserved it, she still felt that he had a lot of nerve saying what he did to her. After all, he didn't exactly make life easy living with him either. In fact, it was almost completely unbearable even being in the same room with him most of the time. He did not stop there though and went on to tell her that he did not love her anymore. Now, her older sister had said a lot of cruel and insensitive things to her in the past, and while that had hurt as well, it didn't even come close in comparison to the pain she felt at that moment. Hearing those words was like someone had taken a knife and plunged into her chest and could feel the very life drain from her, her heart coming to stop. It was a harsh feeling and for the first time she was left unsure of what to say. She couldn't even come back with a witty and sarcastic retort which had always been her trademark and truly showed how deeply his words had affected her. Then, just as she thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, she opened the door only to be faced with her worst nightmare. Resting by the window, in a small recliner chair was her mother, who apparently had been waiting upon their return.

Upon first glance, one would never be able to see the anger that clearly radiated from the much larger woman. But having lived with her mother her entire life, she knew that inside was a raging storm that was threatening to break loose at any moment. They both knew they were in serious trouble and weren't about to receive any mercy. Her mother did not know mercy. She was antagonistic and took no prisoners when it came to telling people how she felt. And with what happened, she probably pushed her further than she ever had in the past with her deceit and in that moment she became like Rambo, minus the gun. Her thirst for blood needing to be quenched and unfortunately they were about to become the first of her victims. Also, there in the room was her brother in law. She did not say anything but knew that he was the one responsible for what was happening. Clearly he told her mother what was going on and was the reason she was there, shredding the two into pieces. Then it happened. Her mother unleashed her fury on them like never before. And she had been on the receiving end many times with her mother and never in her whole life had seen so much anger come from her, while at the same time taking notice to the obvious hurt and disappointment which could clearly be shown in her dark eyes. The thought that she been deceived by her daughter, her own flesh and blood, someone she thought she could trust and always count on had been truly devastating to her she knew. It was the greatest injustice anyone could ever commit and made her feel guilty, especially after everything she had done for her.

She had given birth to her. Fed her and clothed her for the past 16 years of her life, taking care of her like any loving mother should. Not only that but she allowed her boyfriend to come and live with them after witnessing how verbally abusive his mother had been to him, not wanting him to suffer the same traumatic fate that she faced growing up. And after all of that, this was how she repaid her? It was not right and made her angry with herself. She, however, held an even deeper resentment for her boyfriend, the one truly responsible for this whole mess and who she felt finally expressed his true colors to her. She couldn't say that she was surprised though, the only person he ever thought about was himself. Looking back to when they first started dating he was always clingy, wanting to be with her all the time and just smothering her and as their relationship progressed so did his need to be closer to her. He began to pressure her into taking things to the next level and was a real asshole about it when she would not give in to his advances. But none of that mattered now. It was over and the best thing she could do was just move on.

" Can I get you another drink?" Her thoughts were then interrupted when a voice suddenly spoke. She turned her head and found a blonde-haired waitress there beside her. The woman was quite attractive, she appeared to be one, maybe two years older than she was and had crystal blue eyes that stared at her expectantly.

" What did you say?" The dark-haired teen replied, slightly embarrassed. The blonde repeated, giving a small laugh " Do you want another drink?"

" Oh." Was her only response as she then glanced down at the glass she held in her hand." Uh, no, I think I'm finished." A smile crossed the other woman's face as she then asked, " Oh, all right. Do you want me to call you a cab or something?" The teen shook her head, " No, I'm fine." She managed to say, her words slurring slightly. " All right then, here is your bill. You can just pay it whenever you are ready." She placed a piece of paper on the table and walked away. Alone once more, the dark-haired woman, reached in her pocket and pulled out some money and threw down a few dollars to pay the tab, she even added a couple extra for a tip. Afterwards, she stood up from her chair and grabbed her coat.

Just as she began to put it on, everyone in the bar started to countdown. " 10…9…8…7…6…" She took this as her cue to leave and headed towards the door but not before she stuffed the receipt in her pocket. As she walked outside, she was instantly met with the cold chill of the late night air, snow fall coming from the sky as she fought desperately to keep warm. " 5…4…3…2…1…" An eruption of cheers and noise makers could be heard behind the closed door, causing her to shake her head in disgust at their joyous behavior before she then made her way down the street. Having consumed a generous amount of liquor had created the smallest of a buzz, but was still capable of getting herself home, at least in her opinion she was. Fortunately for her, the apartment she was currently occupying was only a couple blocks away so she didn't have too far to go.

Minutes went by and she had yet rounded another corner and there in there in the middle of the sidewalk was a homeless man begging for spare change. The dark-haired girl did not notice him nor did she acknowledge him when he rattled his cup he had in his hand a bit and asked her " Do you have any change?" Instead she just kept on walking and soon arrived at the apartment building where she lived and made her way on inside. The door that lead into her apartment creaked loudly as it slowly swung open. Light from the hallway streamed into the darkened room with only her silhouette framing the doorway. She stepped into the room, not bothering to turn on the lights as she closed the door gently behind and put her keys on the mantle of the fireplace. Removing her jacket, she threw it carelessly on the small recliner and glanced around the room briefly she turned towards her perfectly made bed. She sighed, she laid down gently on it. The alarm o'clock on her nightstand read 12:20 and she allowed her eyes to slide closed. Exhaustion taking over her body and pretty soon the only thing that could be heard was the sound of her soft breathing as she fell into a deep peaceful sleep.

_AN:Well that's it for Chapter 1! Like it? Hate it? Tell me what you think! _


	2. Chapter 2: Eye For An Eye

Disclaimer: I do not own Roseanne

A/N: Well, here is the second chapter! Those of you who reviewed, I hope you enjoy this as much as you did the first chapter. Originally, when I conceived the idea it was not intended to be a comedy of any kind in it but was meant to be a drama piece. However, I quickly found when you base a story off certain episodes that can be quite difficult to do when trying to improvise certain lines and was forced to keep some of the jokes in. I do not intend to include jokes of my own, as I cannot write comedy. Sorry, but I am terrible at it. Anyway, I know it's been a long wait so I hope you all like this and don't forget to read and review at the very end!

Chapter 2: Eye for an Eye

The phone rang early the next morning, causing a startled gasp to then come from the dark-haired woman. She raised her head up in alarm after being awakened by the abrupt sound and immediately focused on the night stand beside her. A couple minutes passed before she decided to finally reach over and pick it up. "Hello?" Groaning softly, she rolled over onto her back and began rubbing her eyes. " Hello Darlene…" The teen stopped what she was doing, hearing the familiar voice on the opposite end. "Mom?" Confused, she glanced over at the clock " It's 8:30 in the morning." Something was wrong. Her mother never called her this early before, and the thought that she was now made Darlene very concerned.

Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the phone, Roseanne Conner was standing in the hallway just outside her bedroom. " I know," Her voice was soft and quiet, " I needed to talk to you."

Darlene sat up, "About what?"

"It's about David." The mention of his name had nearly brought the teen to tears, fortunately with hard swallow, she was able to fight them back. "What about him?" Darlene responded, trying to act nonchalantly though she already had a feeling of her mother was about to say. " You're father kicked him out of the house." Her eyes widen in surprise. Okay, that was not what she was expecting. " David confessed everything to him, unable to take the guilt anymore." Darlene was speechless. She had knew it would be only a matter of time before her father found out about her and David living together in Chicago. But this? She never would have thought that David would have been so stupid as to do himself in like that. Not that she was surprised though. In all the years she had known him, he had always been very honest about his feelings, it was actually one of the things that first attracted her to him.

"So? What do you expect me to do about?" Darlene finally asked, pushing the thought out of her head. "Come back home? You gotta be kidding…" Not appreciating the tone her daughter was using with her, Roseanne gave a narrowed look. " Don't take that tone with me, young lady." She told her sternly, " I told you before that apart of you making things up to me was you had to come home on weekends and damn it, I expect you to do it!" Darlene sat there silently, her lips pursed tightly together. For as long as she could remember, her mother never liked to play fair with people and would use whatever she could to win arguments. No matter how small it may be.

Sensing her daughter's reluctance, Roseanne then added, now feeling desperate. "All right, look if you do this for me than I promise that we can to your dad about letting David back to live here to live?"

"Really?" The younger woman questioned as she began contemplating the situation. As much as she knew she shouldn't trust her mother, knowing that she could just be using the situation with David in attempt to trick her into coming back home, she knew that it was the only way to set things right again between herself and her parents. Besides, it wasn't right to let David take the consequences for what has happened, despite how much she disliked him right now. Closing her eyes, the teen sighed. "Okay. I'll do it." This created a smile to cross the older woman's face, " Good." She then replied, " See you around ten then," Roseanne told her " Bye."

"Bye." With no more words spoken between them, they hung up the phone. Darlene threw back the covers and got up out of bed, shuffling tiredly towards the bathroom in order to get herself ready.

* * *

Two hours go by and Roseanne is sitting at the kitchen table, writing what appeared to be a list. Just then, a young woman with long blonde hair came into the room, having emerged from the back door. It was Roseanne's oldest daughter Becky. "Is Darlene here yet?" She moved to stand beside her mother "You don't see her washing my feet with her hair do you?" The older woman looked at her daughter out of the corner of her eye before turning her gaze back on what she was doing.

"God, Mom I hope you aren't gonna be too hard on her." Becky held a genuine look of concern on her face as she folded her arms over her chest. Once again, Roseanne turned her focus away from her list and onto the woman beside her. "You know I am more than fair, Becky." She assured her, turning her attention onto the paper in front of her. Now, uh…can you think of a punishment that starts with "X"?"

"She lived with her boyfriend because she was in love with him. Think back to when you young." Argued Becky, giving her mother a slightly narrowed look. Roseanne turned towards her daughter once more and said, "You know, Becky if you are feeling left out, I could punish you as well." Silence filled the room as the blonde-haired woman became quiet for the slightest of moments before she then responded, "Excavate garden. There is a punishment that starts with "X"."

"Yard work." Roseanne scribbled down, "Zoo with D.J." She added the final contents to her list and with a triumphant smile, she announced. "I'm done." Moving away from her mother, Becky wondered over towards the refrigerator. "What do you think dad is gonna do when he sees her?"

"Oh, Becky your father is a reasonable man, I figure he will sit her down and have a nice long talk." Roseanne told her daughter as the young woman pulls out a soft drink and sits down at the table. "Of course he won't listen; you know how your sister is." Just then, both women heard the sound of the back door slam and watched as a very pregnant Jackie Harris came walking into the room. "Hey, Roseanne. Becky." She greet them, instantly making her way over to the table, removing her coat as she did and threw it on the table. "Hey, Jackie." Both mother and daughter responded. Afterwards, the soon to be mother turned to her sister and asked, "So how did things go with Darlene this morning? Did you tell her about David?"

"Yes, I did" Roseanne replied, not bothering to look at her

"And?" Jackie persisted,

"And everything went fine. She was a bit reluctant at first but I finally persuaded her to come home." Amazed, Jackie took a seat at the table beside her sister "How did you manage that? Death threats? Black mail?"

"None. I just told her that if came home than we could talk to Dan about letting David come back to stay."

"So you lied?" The soon mother-to-be asked, "Of course I did." Unable to take anymore, Becky spoke up "I've got to go talk to Mark." She told them and walked silently out of the room. The younger of the two women than spoke again, "Roseanne, don't you think you're being a bit unfair about this? I mean kids lie all the time..." Jackie knew from experiences how her sister had a tendency to over react sometimes about things and did not want her to mess up what little relationship she still had with her youngest daughter. "Jackie, its one thing when my kids lie to other people, I don't care about that, but when they start lying to me then it's personal." She answered, seriously.

"Hello!" Came a familiar voice from the living room. It was Darlene. She shut the door just as she her mother and aunt came making their way into the living room, smiles on their faces. "Why, hello Darlene. Gosh, it's so wonderful to have you home, especially when your in really, really big trouble."

Confused, the teen then asked, "I'm home. Now what?"

"Oh, gee, let's see. It has been so long since I punished you, I wonder if I even remember how." Roseanne afterwards paused briefly, pretending to give it thought. "You're grounded." She pointed a finger at the dark-haired girl before then turning towards her sister and said, "There! Yeah, it's just like riding a bike!" Darlene stared at her, "You can't ground me. I don't even live anymore." She told her, "The only reason I came home was because you said we could talk to dad about David. You know, he's, like, really unhappy." Roseanne shrugged off her daughter's concern and responded, "David is fine, don't worry about him. I have sent him away to stay with some people for awhile."

"Sent him away?" The curly-haired teen asked, "Why did you do that?"

"Because he had nowhere else to go, so I made some phone calls and he is doing all aright." Roseanne explained, not wanting to divulge any more information than that. "Well, David has got to come back here. If you won't talk to dad than I'll go do it myself..." Darlene spoke, a serious look on her face. "Uh, I don't think that would be a good idea with the mood your father is in, Darlene." Roseanne warned her, "Let's face it, you need my help." She spoke, holding up the list for the teen to see. Darlene took the piece of paper from mother and calmly looked it over. Afterwards, she let out a small laugh, "Oh, you are twisted," Said Darlene as she then turned towards the older woman.

"Do you think I take joy in punishing my children?" Roseanne asked, making Darlene then reply simply, "Yes, I do." The mother of three then turns towards her sister "You see, Jackie? You must always let the child know why they are being punished." Jackie, now sitting in the chair in front of the hearth, gives Roseanne an amused smile. A loud slam then came from the back door, followed afterwards by Dan's thunderous voice "Damn snow plow blocked the driveway again!"

The sound sent chills down the teenager's spine, "Oh, god." Roseanne stood there with a smile on her face, happy at watching her daughter squirm a bit before walking over and saying, "Don't worry. We won't let you live hooked up to machines." She told her, Darlene ignored her words and waited as Dan then walked into the room. "Did you see that son of -" He suddenly froze when he saw the teen.

"Hi, Dad." She smiled, though he didn't respond. The large man just stood there stone faced and still, both his wife and sister in law looking at him expectantly. Finally, after a moment or two a smile started to crack across his lips. "Hey, sport. Great to see you." Said Dan, walking over to pull her into a hug. "Yeah, you, too." She responded, hugging him back.

Afterwards, the two separated and he suggested, "What do you say me and you go get a sundae?"

"Really?" A smile spread across Darlene's face "Oh, okay. Great." Giving a small laugh, she turned to her mother "Here you go," She handed her back the list, over come with a newfound confidence. Roseanne, on the other hand was in a state of confusion as her daughter then walked outside and turned towards her husband headed towards the door. "Uh, Dan," She began, walked slightly over to him.

"So what the hell were you doing right then? Don't you know what's been going on for the last three months?" He stood there silent for a few seconds, unable to answer her right away. "Well, we don't get to her very often," He finally responded, completely ignoring what she said earlier.

" I know that, but you are being really to nice her like she's a total stranger." Roseanne told him, "She's never going to come if every time she does it's miserable." And with those final words, Dan walked out the door but not before hearing his wife say,

"Why not? I do!"

* * *

An hour or so later, Roseanne stood in the kitchen pouring herself a cup of coffee when she heard the sound of the back door slamming. "Come on in, Darlene. I'll put the game on." Said Dan, walking quickly through the kitchen, his daughter close in tow. "Okay, I'll be right there in a sec, Daddy." Stopping in the kitchen, Darlene then turned towards her mother, a smug smile on her face " We went sledding." Roseanne was not phased though, and said"Well, it's great your home. Now you can do the dishes." Turning her head towards the living room, Darlene spoke "Dad, Mom wants me to do the dishes."

"Don't be silly! Come watch the game!" Roseanne gave a narrowed look as she heard his words, and looked over to her daughter who once again had given her a confident smile before watching her then depart into the living room. Now frustrated, she saw her son D.J sitting at the table playing his game boy and said, "Hey, you. Get over here and do the dishes."

"…takes it all the way along the base line-" Said the announcer on the TV. Darlene stood there at the foot of the couch, quietly trying to wonder how she was going to approach the fact of David to her father as he sat there watching the game. Feeling her eyes on him, he turned towards her. "What? What is it?" Suddenly becoming nervous, she did not say anything for a few seconds. "Nothing. It's just…" Trailing off for a moment she then added, "Never mind." Darlene told him dismissively, and sat down on the couch beside him. Just as she did, however, he then picked up the remote to the TV and lowers the volume.

"So how's life?"

"Well, school's okay." She answered, giving a smile.

"Good."

"You know, I'm kind of lonely since David left." She then said, making the smile from his face then fade at the mention of his name, "I mean, which is really weird 'cause I hated having him there."

"Too bad." Darlene could tell already by the way he replied that she was treading on dangerous ground, but she still pressed the subject. "I talked to him—I mean, in Michigan. H-he's not too happy." She paused for a moment before then going on to say, "He's really sorry, we're both really sorry that we lied to you."

"Well, it's over. It's time to move on." Despite how calm he sounded, it was clear that he wanted her to drop it. However, Darlene was determined not to give up on the matter and asked, "Dad can David move back in the house?"

"No."

"But dad you can't just let him live with him mom."

"I said no, Darlene. The boy has done enough damage." Dan then slammed down the remote control of the coffee table, suddenly becoming angry as he then spoke "And I don't care how horrible his mother is. He's not an infant!" He got up from the couch glaring down at his daughter, who then stood up herself.

"But Dad—" She started to protested, but was interrupted when he then screamed. "The boy's not coming back to this house, and that's final!" Darlene watched briefly as her father storm out the room in a huff, before looking down at the ground feeling quite defeated in that moment. When she finally looked up again, she saw her mother suddenly walk in the room a large smile on her face. Roseanne held out the small piece of paper for the young girl to take from her. Darlene, rolling her eyes, snatched the list from her mother's hand and before quietly walking away.

Later that evening, Darlene was in the kitchen washing dishes when her baby brother D.J came walking in the room, carrying a small stack of dirty dishes. "Here, I found these in my room. It's gonna take some pretty good scrubbing to get all the cheese off." He told her, placing them on the counter. "Yeah, it's gonna take some pretty good scrubbing to get all your skin, off but, uh, I got time."

"You can't do anything to me, 'cause you're in too much trouble." He said smugly, this did not intimidate her though. Instead she picked up and a plate in a threatening manner and asked "Hey, D.J., how would you like a second plate in your head?" This made him then run off in fear. Once he was gone, she set the plate back on the counter and removed her apron. She made in the living room, looking towards her parents room to make sure they weren't coming out as she went.

Just as she grabbed her jacket off the coat rack, she heard a voice suddenly speak to her. "Hey." Whirling around, she saw her dad underneath the archway leading back to his bedroom, and smiled at him. "Hey. Dad, your up."

"Yeah. What are you doing?" Darlene looked down at her jacket for a moment "Oh, I was just getting my jacket because, uh, the basement is cold." She lied, giving him a smile. "You don't have to do that. I'll just turn the heat up." He explained, reaching over to adjust the thermostat.

"Oh, right. Of course." She then replied, hanging her coat back up on the rack. Dan then walked and took a seat on the couch, focusing his eyes on the TV. "All right, well thanks. Then I guess I'll turn in."

"Listen, Darlene, I'm sorry that I yelled at you earlier." Dan then apologized, "I know the whole thing with David wasn't your fault." Her hand in her hair, Darlene stood there now feeling even more uncomfortable than she did before. "Yeah, okay." She replied, an awkward smile on her face.

"As far as I'm concerned, the whole matter is behind us. It as if the whole thing never existed." Afterwards, she watched him as he then picked up the remote and watched as he turned it on. "Good night, dad." She told him and walked quietly towards her room.

Downstairs, Darlene paced back and forth slightly trying to think of a clever way to sneak out the house when she heard a knock come on her door. Pausing for a moment, she turned her head only to find that it was her sister Becky. "Hey," She smiled, "Can I come in?" The teen did not respond and took a seat on her bed, keeping her attentions away from the blonde-haired woman. Afterwards, Becky walked into the room, carefully closing the door behind her. "I thought maybe we could talk..."

"I don't want to talk to you." Darlene responded; still keep her eyes away from her sister. "Okay, then let me do the talking—" Darlene didn't allow her to finish, however and cut her off. "Don't you get it? I don't want to talk to you; I don't care what you have to say. All I want is for you to leave me alone right now, all right?" Becky just stood there staring at her, not sure of what to say, when suddenly Dan came walking in the room. He was carrying two large blankets in his arms. "Darlene, I brought you—" He stopped in mid-sentence when he caught sight of his daughters. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. Good night, Dad." Not waiting for a response, Becky walked out of the room and Dan turned back to Darlene, shrugged his shoulders, and resumed talking. Darlene wasn't listening though. She looked towards her sister had been before turning her head away again, ignoring the pain of guilt that was rising in her chest at having hurt her sister the way she did.

The following morning came all too soon as Darlene slept soundly, the covers wrapped tightly around her in a conscious effort to try to keep her warm against the freezing temperatures that had managed to consume the isolated basement. The silent environment was then broken as a knock suddenly came on the door before swinging open, revealing the ever familiar presence of her mother who immediately made her way across the room to stand at her bedside shaking her gently. "Darlene, it's time to get up." Groaning quietly the teenager shifted slightly before resettling again Roseanne's words fell on deaf ears as Darlene made no motion to get up making the older woman stare at her with an irritable look on her face before then grabbing hold of the mattress and lifting it up.

Watching as the dark haired girl then fell off the bed and landed with a loud thud onto the ground. Sitting up, Darlene rubbed her head having hit it upon making impact with the floor. A fresh set of clothes were then tossed onto her lap and she looked up to see her mother standing over "Get dressed." She told her firmly "I'm taking to you to school." Green eyes grew wide in surprise. Before she could say anything though, the older woman had left the room. After she was gone, Darlene was left still confused. She was taking her to school. What did she mean by that?

To be continued…

A/N: Well, that's chapter 2! Sorry, it took so long to post it but I had a really hard time getting this all to sound just right. I am still not sure it sounds that good since I had to eliminate so much material in order to fit well with the story, but it was the best I could do unfortunately. Anyway, I promise that the next chapter won't take nearly as long to write. Read and review!


	3. Chapter 3:Here On My Own

_A/N: Finally! The third chapter is finished! I want to apologize to those who have been waiting patiently for this. A lot of personal issues have been going on in my life recently so I have been working on this off and on lately. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and don't forget to let me know what you think._

Chapter 3: Here on my Own

Several moments passed and both Roseanne Darlene were now in the car. Neither one spoke a word to one another as they drove down a busy road. "I am never going to forgive you for this." Darlene spoke, turning her focus away from the window and onto her mother.

"Look," Roseanne began, "I know you aren't happy about of this but eventually you'll understand what I am doing is for your own good." The mother of three explained, "Why do I have go back to High School anyway? We both know I won't learn anything."

"True. But you are still under age at the moment and are therefore a minor."

"But-"

"Also," Roseanne started, "over these past three months all we've gotten is one phony excuse after another from you."

Darlene narrowed her eyes

"I've already apologized for that…"

"And what, that's suppose to make, okay?" Roseanne asked indignantly, "You lied to us Darlene and betrayed our trust. You have to face the consequences for that." She pointed out. "All right, fine." She said firmly, growing increasing tired of this. "So is that all? Or is there more?" Darlene sighed. As much as she knew her mother was right, and it was her own fault that she was in this position now, she still did not want to have to hear and listen her lectures about what a horrible mistake she had made. She already knew what a mistake it had been doing what she did and just wanted to put it all behind her so she could move on with her life.

" Everyday you will be given a list of chores to do and you are to have them all done by the time we get home. No exceptions." She then added " Should you not agree to the terms given to you, your grounding period will be extended and more harsher punishments will be handed out. Is that understood?"

" Listen, I know-" Darlene started but was then interrupted,

" Is that understood?" Roseanne asked again, this time abruptly. Silence followed for a few moments " Yes." She answered softly. Just as the words left her lips they pulled up in front of the High School. " Good. Now get out of here." Darlene grabbed a hold of her book bag and got out of the car. As she watched her daughter go, Roseanne's mind began to drift to David and began to wonder just how the young boy was doing.

" _Listen, David," Roseanne began, breaking the silence_

" _I know things have not been going very well for you lately. First you and Darlene break up and now Mr. Conner throws you out of the house…it's a lot to cope with, I am right?" Before the young boy could respond, the older woman started to speak once more. " Of course I am. But don't you worry because no matter what happens, I am not sending you back to your mother."_

" _You're not?" He asked, confused _

" _No, I am not. However, until I can convince Mr. Conner to change his mind in letting you come back, you stay with someone for awhile." Roseanne explained, " But where can you go? I could put you with Jackie but…" Before the woman could get out the full thought, David then interjected. " It's okay, Mrs. Conner." Roseanne turned to look at him, " There is someone already I know who would be glad to take me."_

" _Who?"_

" _My father." He answered her, _

" _Your dad?"_

" _Yes," He answered, " He and my two younger sisters live in Indianapolis. Though he may have not always been the most attentive father to me and my siblings, he was the most stable."_

"_That's good enough for me. All right, let's go." And so with no more words, the two headed towards the bus station. When they got there, she made sure he got his ticket and whatever else he needed before then saying. " Remember David, I am just a phone call away so if things with your dad aren't working out just let me know and I will come and get you." _

_David smiled at the older woman appreciatively " Thank you Mrs. Conner, but I will be fine, really." He assured her, " Ok, well I at least want you to call me when you get there just to let me know that you are safe. Got it?"_

" _Yeah," He nodded_

" _All right, well give me a hug." David then wrapped his arms around her and she pulled him tight against her, not wanting to let him go. It broke her heart inside at the thought of seeing him leave. She loved him. He was like another son to her, _she _and though it broke her heart inside to see him go if he wanted to go she wasn't going to stop him. Roseanne knew he was grown man now and she couldn't protect him from the world forever. He deserved something better than what was here and no matter how it may have killed her to do it, she was going to give him exactly what he wanted._

" _Bye," He told her and walked away, " Bye, David." She said to him, as she watched him board the bus…_

Roseanne walked through the front door of the Landford Lunch Box an alittle awhile later. Her sister Jackie was just finishing up serving a customer when she noticed her arrival. " Hey," She greeted her

" Hey." Roseanne responded as she hung up her coat.

" Everything go all right with Darlene?" asked Jackie as Roseanne walked behind the counter. " Yeah, it was ok." She said, " She was of course upset that she wouldn't be going back to college and that she would be doing chores from now on, but I didn't care to listen to her complain and interrupted her when she tried to object."

Just then Leon Carp, another partner in business came walking out of the back of the room " There you are Roseanne." He spoke, walking over to the sisters, " Where have you been? Your shift was suppose to start an hour ago. Honestly, how can you expect to be responsible when-"

" Yeah, yeah I got it." she said, waving her hand dismissively

" So how do you think Darlene will do on her first day back to High School?"

" She will be fine, I am sure. Darlene has never been a quiter, she survived High School before she can do it again."

Sounds of lockers slamming echoed around her as Darlene Conner made her way through a crowded hallway to get to her next period when she bumped into someone.

Making them dropping their belongings, " Oh, geez, I am sorry-" Darlene bent down to help the person pick up their stuff " Don't worry about, it's all right really." In this moment the two looked at each other, their eyes wide in amazement.

"Molly?"

" Darlene?" The other girl breathed in astonishment, " W-What are you doing here? I thought you left."

" I did." She responded, as the both stood back up. " but I came back, not by my own choice mind you. Is that a problem?" She said the last part a bit defensively,

" No, I am just amazed to see you back."

" Yeah, me too." She half-mumbled to herself. Just then the warning bell rang, signaling the girls they needed to hurry off to their class. " Well, it was good to see you again, Darlene. "

With these words spoken, Darlene was left once again by herself. She gave a sigh, the day had barely begun and already she had been revoked of her rights to return back to college and was forced to return back to hellish nightmare of High School.

On top of that, she would now have to deal with the torment of performing manual labor at home to make up for her deception towards her mother and was just now reunited with her old rival. Could this day possible get any worse?

_A/N: Sorry, it wasn't longer but I felt this was a good place to stop it. Plus I just wanted to finish it and get up and posted before the week was out. For those of you who waited anxiously for this chapter I hope you liked this and I will try my hardest not to be so long with the next chapter._


	4. Chapter 4: The Assignment

Disclaimer: I do not own Roseanne the story and all of it's characters are property of Carsey-Werner.

A/N: Hello everyone! I am so sorry that it took me so long to update. For the last few months I've been blocked on this and wasn't sure how it was that I wanted this to finish this. I had the idea in my head of what I wanted to happen I just wasn't sure of how to put in writing so I put it on the back burner until I could figure things out slowly working on it off and on whenever something came to mind. As the months went by I thought I really needed to finish but felt so uninspired mostly due to all the stuff that was going on with my life I couldn't focus and then the other day I sat down and read over your guys reviews I knew I had to finish this no matter what and so here it is finally completed.

One more thing, I know there has been a few of you who was curious as to David whereabouts and if he is truly living with his father well I went ahead and answered that question for you in this. Honestly it was never my intention to make David an actual part of the story he was originally only suppose to appear in flashbacks, dreams or in memories but to my surprise there are a lot of you who are interested in knowing about him. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this. I worked really hard on this for the past few days and hope that it shows. I even went back and tweaked a few things, rewriting certain parts to make it sound better I hope I was successful in my efforts. If you have any questions for me don't hesitate to ask me in the reviews or if you want PM me. Thank you and don't forget to review at the end!

Chapter 4: The Assignment

Becky walked into the kitchen finally feeling comfortable enough to come downstairs for breakfast. After what happened last night between her and Darlene she wanted to avoid her sister at all costs this morning. She grabbed a bowl from the cabinet when just then she heard the phone ring.

_Who could that be? Becky wondered. She walked over to the phone and picked it up._

"Hello?"

"Hey, Becky" The voice on the phone spoke, causing to stand there confused.

"David?" She asked after a couple of minutes "Yeah. Is Darlene there I need to talk with her." The curly haired teenager stood inside a phone booth, as the occasional person passed by him on the sidewalk.

"Uh, no I'm sorry David but I'm afraid she isn't. Darlene is at school right now. Mom took her this morning." David nodded his head silently. He should have known this would happen. After having what happened in Chicago, he knew Roseanne wasn't going to let Darlene off easily. She is a very manipulative woman and has a way to using a situation to get what she wants, and it didn't take a genius to know that she had let Darlene know what happened him and most likely made a false promise to help work something out if she came out, setting up the ambush. David knew that Roseanne would have made sure to pay Darlene back for her deception, and he clearly found it by tricking her into coming home, revoking her rights of returning back to college and making her return back to High School.

"So how are things in Indianapolis? You and your dad getting along?"

"Yeah, we're fine." He replied, " Dad has been working late recently and it's my job while he's gone to take care of Lisa and Nicky. It's a bit exhausting at times, but I really don't mind. After being apart from so long, it gives me an opportunity to spend time with them again."

"Well, that's good, David." Becky smiled

Just then a nearby bell rang causing David to then say, " Listen, I got to go. Just tell Darlene when you talk to her that I called, okay?" Becky took a small pause. " Okay."

" Bye, Becky." He then quickly hung the phone and ran off leaving Becky hanging on the phone.

" Bye, David." She said softly and carefully hung up the phone. Afterwards, she was left standing there for a couple moments, wondering how was she going to tell Darlene that David called when her sister wouldn't even speak to her. _Darlene is going through a lot at the moment. The best thing to do is just give her space and then tell her when the time is right then say something. _Having made her decision Becky went back to fixing her breakfast.

Meanwhile, Darlene walked into her first class and took a seat in the back of the room. She set down her back pack on the ground and pulled out the necessary items she needed for the period. The bell soon rang after and a older man around in his early to mid forties entered the room, He wore a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up neatly above the elbows, and a pair of grey khaki pants.

"All right settle down, class. Settle down." He made his way to the front of the classroom. The students quieted down and afterwards he said, " I have a couple of announcements to make. First of all, we have a new student with us today so let's try our best to make her feel welcome, say hello to Darlene Conner." All eyes turned onto her in that moment, making her feel very uncomfortable. "Hello, Darlene" They all said in unison. "Hey." She responded, giving a brief wave.

"The second announcement. It's that time again, people." He said causing them all except Darlene to groan, "That's right. The time of year where I assign you all to a book to read for the rest of the school year."

"Mr. Williams, you give us the same assignment to do every year. Must we do this?" One student asked, "I'm afraid so yes. However, this year we are going to try something a little bit different. I'm going to put you all in groups of two and together you will choose what book you wish to read and at the end of every chapter write a brief summery of what happened and what it is you thought it." He explained,

"All right, now we all know what the assignment is about let's begin." Mr. Williams then reached a bit behind him and picked up a piece of paper.

" Here is a list of the people you will all be working with." He started, "Mark Addams you and Karen Smith will be working together. Luke Wilson you will be placed with Rebecca Grayson. Jack Daniels you will be partners with Ashley Hart." He continued to go down the names, reading off the remaining names. When he was finished he said, " Well I suppose that's it. Yes, Darlene?" He asked, noticing her hand was up.

" What about me? You didn't put me with anybody."

"Didn't I?" Confused he looked over the list. "I guess I didn't, did I? Well let me see if I have anyone left here."

" Excuse me, Mr. Williams?" The older man turned his focus of what he was doing and onto the person that spoke. Darlene looked as well and was shocked to discover that it was none other than Molly Tilden. "Yes, Molly? What is it?"

" Well, I was just wondering if it would be all right, I wouldn't mind being Darlene's partner." Mr. Williams turned his attention back on Darlene, "Is that all right, Darlene?" He questioned. Darlene stared at Molly for a moment before turning towards him speechless for a second before she finally let out a sigh and replied, "Yeah, sure."

"Great." He smiled, "Why don't you two go ahead and head on down to the library and we will do this one at a time."

As the two walked out of the classroom Darlene's mind drifted. _What am I doing here? _She thought _What is the purpose of all of this? _She couldn't understand what her mother was trying to achieve. There was nothing here that she couldn't have learned at college, however one major mistake justifies throwing her back here in the hellhole again where they don't appreciate their students or their creativity. Honestly, just when she things couldn't possibly get any worse they do.

"Darlene?" Molly's voice caused the girl to snap out of her thoughts and turn to her. "What?" She asked, " I was just wondering if you thinking about? You look like you were in a deep thought."

"Nothing that concerns you so drop it." She replied. Darlene was never one to talk about her feelings with anyone especially with someone she didn't think too fondly about she hoped that the other girl who take the hint an leave it alone which thankfully she did. Neither one spoke a word and everything as the two made an empty hallway. Right now they both needed to focus as to what book they wanted to read because it has to be one they will both agree on seeing as she had no idea what books that Molly liked or even if she had read any decent books she knew this wasn't going to be any easy task.

They soon arrived at the library and with Darlene in the lead they quickly made their ways to the novels. Scanning over the many titles Darlene saw likely candidates she would like to read but she knew that it wasn't up to her to choose. It had to be something they would both enjoy. "Do you see anything that catches your interest?" Molly looked over the books and found one that caught her eye. "What's that one?" S Darlene's eyes followed to what she was looking at and saw _To Kill a Mockingbird _and pulled the book. "What is it about?" The other girl asked, causing Darlene to stare at her with a look that said ' Are you kidding me?'

"What?" Asked Molly, feeling uncomfortable under the other girl's gaze. "Your serious? You've never read _To Kill A Mockingbird? _It's only one of the greatest novels ever written."

"I'm sorry. Unlike you I didn't read much books in my free time." Darlene knew that she could say something nasty in return but she bit her tongue. She needed Molly to help her on this project so at least for the moment she would ignore what she said.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she gave a sigh and said. "_To Kill A Mockingbird _is told from the point of view of the Narrator: Scout Finch. It is a story about prejudice and racism as a black man who is wrongly accused of raping of a white woman is put on trial."

" Really?" Molly asked "Sounds interesting. Let's go with that one." Once again Darlene was left stunned as she looked at the other girl. She didn't think that it would this easy but amazing it was. Oh well, whatever she wasn't going to argue if they could agree on something that was a good sign in her book. Darlene nodded her head and with no more words they made their way to front to go check out the book.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I had finished it earlier and even posted it but later took it down because looking at it I felt that it was still too short so I went back and though I would add a bit more to it before putting it up again. It may take some time for me to write the next chapter because I need to figure out what I want to happen next but I will try to written and posted probably in the next month or so.


	5. Chapter 5: Two Wrongs Do Make A Right

Disclaimer: I do not own Roseanne

Author Note: Hello Everyone! I am back after a VERY long hiatus and am ready to deliver more chapters to you finally. First let me just say how sorry I am for the long wait, I started writing this shortly after posting on Chapter 4 but got a bad case of writers block until recently when I began to feel inspired again and began writing liking crazy to get this done for you all, the audience. Hope you all enjoy this and as always read and review! Also, I just want to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope you all have a great holiday!

Chapter 5: Two Wrongs Do Make A Right

Written by Super Saiyan Juuhachi

Darlene and Molly walked out of the library; they had gotten their book and were now on their way back to class. Everything was quiet between the two for a long time as they headed down the hall until Molly then broke it when she asked, "So what time do you want to do this?" Darlene suddenly stopped and looked at her. "Do what?" She asked curiously

"Our assignment." Molly replied "I figure that I can come over after school and-"

"No." Darlene then said, cutting off the other girl in mid sentence. "No? What do you mean No?" Molly asked, confused "You can't come over." The dark-haired girl told her

"Why?"

"Because I have chores to do after school."

"So?" Asked Molly, not understanding what the problem was.

"_So_ if I don't get them done by the time my parents get home I'm in trouble, all right?"

"Well in that case, why don't you come over to my house after you finished with whatever you need to do? That way there is no pressure." Silence fell upon them once more as Molly gave the teen a moment to consider her offer. Darlene ran her hand through her wild locks, contemplating what to do. She could ignore her suggestion and simply give an estimate of when she _might_ be done but there was no guarantee that the work would be completed by then and she would have to put off doing their assignment even more. On the positive side, if she took her offer she would be able to relax a bit, yeah she still had a deadline to meet, but at least she would not feel quite so rushed to get everything done. She hated to admit it, but it was a good idea that Molly had.

"Deal." She responded, finally coming out of her thoughts.

"Good." Molly gave a faint smile and nodded her head

Darlene turned away her and began walking down the hallway again. Molly stood there quietly for a moment as she watched the other girl go. She did not know what it was that brought Darlene to Lanford like this, but she was not complaining. Despite their differences in the past, she had missed her and had wished for her return.

It had always bothered her the way that they left things, before she moved to Chicago she had hoped that they could have worked out the issues between them, but of course, it never happened. Now that she was back, she prayed all that would change.

She had made many mistakes in her life, but she believed that everyone deserves a second chance. She hoped that Darlene would give it to her. She was willing to do whatever was necessary to prove that she be a good friend to her. _Things are going to be different this time._ Molly thought, before following after Darlene.

Meanwhile at the Lanford Lunch Box, Jackie stood behind the counter, giving a customer their change and receipt. "Thank you, come back soon." After they left, she turned her focus onto her sister who now was wiping down tables. She had not said much all day which was unusual, Roseanne was never this quiet unless something was wrong.

She walked over to her "You okay, sis?" She asked placing a hand on her back. "I'm fine, Jackie." The older woman replied slightly annoyed, "I was just wondering because you have been really quiet today." Jackie told her, "And what? That must mean that something is wrong right?" She asked with a smirk, turning towards her sister.

"Jackie, did it ever occur to you and everyone else that maybe I just don't have anything to say?" There was a brief pause before Jackie then responded, "Is this a trick question?" Roseanne rolled her, turning her head away from her and resumed what she was doing. "Look Roseanne," Jackie started, "I'm your sister and I'm just worried about you."

"I already told you Jackie that I'm fine."

"Well, I don't think it is." Jackie told her "Now what is wrong? Is this about Darlene?"

Roseanne then stopped what she was doing and responded, "No, this is not about Darlene. Why would think that it was about Darlene?" Jackie feeling suddenly nervous then replied, "I don't know, I thought that perhaps that you were having second thoughts about sending her to back to school or something."

"No, Jackie I'm not having second thoughts."

"Well, what is it then?" Jackie persisted, "Is it David?" Roseanne then became quiet again, she looked down at the rag in her hands and began pulled at it slightly trying to focus on anything than what was happening.

"Roseanne?"

" It's just that ever since I dropped off Darlene this morning at school I can't help but think about David and wonder how he is doing."

"Didn't you say that he went to live with his father?"

Roseanne nodded in response, "Yeah"

"And didn't you also say between the two, that his father was the most stable?"

"That's what David said."

"Okay, well David is a good kid and I doubt that he would lie to you about something like this." Jackie assured her, "If anything was wrong I am sure he would have contacted you by now."

"Yeah, I guess your right." Roseanne muttered, as Jackie walked away from her. She knew that it was wrong to assume that just because David's mother was unfit parent did not mean that his father was as well. As hard as it was to accept right now, she would do the best she could to be happy for David and move on.

Elsewhere at Lanford City Garage Dan sat in the break room eating his lunch when his mind suddenly began to wander to how Darlene was doing, he knew that Roseanne was taking her to her first day of High School today. Of course, he was against the idea; he just could not understand what doing that was to be teaching her. All it was creating more anger and bitterness towards her mother. Though asking his wife to understand this would mean that she would have to admit that her way was wrong and he knew that was not going to happen.

She only did that when she knew that when she said or did something that she shouldn't have and figured apologizing was the only way make things right again. Though in seemed in this case, she felt it was Darlene's turn to apologize to her for all the lying that she had given them over the last few months and until she did, she would be subjected to doing chores around the house.

Just then, his thoughts were broken when he saw two people walk into the room. It was his son-in-law Mark Healy and his friend Fred. "Hey Dan," Both men greeted,

"Hey, Fred, Mark. How is it going out there?"

"Great. We've almost got the buses done." Fred responded, as both he and the Mark then sat at the table, their lunches in their hand

"Good." He nodded smiling "Glad to hear that." The three men began eating their lunches in in silence, before Fred then asked, "How are things going with you?"

"Still mad at Roseanne for making Darlene going back to School?" Dan shook his head, "No, I'm not mad. I was never mad, really I was just more so frustrated because Roseanne always takes the negative approach with everything. She always has to think she is right and won't listen to what anyone has to say on the matter." He explained irritated.

"I just don't know what to do. She thinks that with this punishment it will make Darlene realize what she did was wrong, but all it is really doing is creating is more friction between the two."

"Don't worry, Dan you remember how she was me and Becky got Married? She was upset…" Mark then trailed off "Not a good example," He then said and shut up and resumed eating his lunch.. "Look the point is Dan, Roseanne needs to be reminded of what it was like to be young and in love and how that can sometimes make us doing foolish things sometimes…" Dan thought about this and thought that it was long shot, but it was worth a try at least. Afterwards, everything became quiet between the three men again as they resumed eating their lunch.

Time ticked away quickly and before it she knew it, the day was over. Darlene got on the bus which felt strange as she was use to driving where she needed to go but since her car was still in Chicago she had no way of getting back and forth anywhere. A few minutes passed and she soon found herself home again, she got off the bus and walked inside her home. Darlene dropped her book bag by the door and walked towards the fridge to get herself snack when she saw a piece of paper posted on it. She pulled it down to see what it was.

It was her list of chores. Her mother had modified it to make it easier on her and broke it down to five chores a day to expand it over it a week's period, making her smirk. _Clever, Mom. _She thought to herself. They were all pretty simple: Sweep the kitchen floor, shovel/salt the driveway, sweep the floor, vacuum the carpet, do the laundry and dishes. _I'm in Hell. _Darlene thought. She gave a sigh as she then got started on her chores, knowing that it would take her awhile to finish all this.

Author Note: So what did you all think? It looked me a couple weeks to complete but I finally did it! Once again I just want to say how sorry I am for the long wait I will work harder to update more often. I am already in the works of writing the outline for chapter 6 so expect to see that chapter soon. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to hearing what you thought on it. Until next time…


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